I have always loved the friends to lovers romance trope. The challenge to making a story like this work is to be able to first show how good the hero and heroine are as friends but also create that subtle tension that lets you know something more than friendship is on the rise. That’s what I I hope I’ve done in my contemporary romance, THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY. Because of…reasons, my hero, Jamie, and heroine, Brynn, are on a road trip from Chicago to L.A. We know from the outset that Jamie has feelings for Brynn that go beyond friendship, but obstacles have kept him from telling her. His hope is that by the end of the trip she’ll realize he’s the one. What does that mean for me as a writer? I get to put these two in situations that will make them squirm with tension. Here’s a short little scene from early in Jamie and Brynn’s road trip. Because of a travel mishap, Brynn is without her glasses or contacts for their overnight stay in Tulsa, OK. Because our hero is a beer brewer and their hotel bar has tons of microbrews on tap, Jamie and the…

If you visit Amazon these days, you’ll find millions of books. Millions in the romance category alone. So many stories. So many ideas birthed in the writers’ imaginations. But where do those ideas come from? Ask most writers that question and you’ll most likely get some variation of Oh, geez. Everywhere. That’s because life provides the seed for every story, whether it be a song lyric that hits your ears at just the right time, a news headline, a funny comment overheard… Or something as simple as an elderly man holding a bouquet of flowers as he waits for a train. I stood in Grand Central not long ago, watching such an old man and thinking, where is he going? Who are the flowers for? He must be meeting a woman. Look at how sweet and dapper he looks in his fedora as he anxiously studies the board with the train schedule. My mind quickly slipped a romance heroine into the picture. She sits next to the old man on the train and… The possibilities are endless. For me, at least, those seeds normally sprout sideways, never taking me where I first thought they would. Like the idea that came…

I love food. I love to eat food, cook food, and watch chefs make food on TV, so when I thought of Tessa Lawrence, the protagonist for COOKING UP TROUBLE, I saw her in a kitchen. When her grandfather died and her grandmother decided to move to a ranch house in town, Grams gave her their farm and business. Tessa grows fresh fruits and produce. During the summer, she runs a farm stand and a bakery. She and Grams bake together every Thursday and sell their goods on Fridays and Saturdays—cookies and specialty cakes and pies. The shop’s shelves are lined with all things pickled, along with a variety of pestos. While Tessa and Grams cook together, Grams gladly dispenses advice. Tessa’s given up on men after finding her fiancée in the arms of another woman. Grams wants her to get out there again, to find someone else, so when Ian McGregor buys the property next to Tessa’s, Grams sees an opportunity to jumpstart Tessa’s hormones and jolt her back into the world of dating. Grams just might be on the right track, too. Ian’s happy to drop by Tessa’s for supper most nights. He’s good-looking and charming…and engaged. That…

Isis Blake’s Five Rules For Winning Wars Against Pretty Boys And Other Vital Protips For Surviving High School Never trust them: When girls turn 13, there’s this crazy phenomenon I like to call ‘the grownup syndrome’ that happens to them. All of a sudden, dudes think it’s okay to snap bras, call girls whores, and sexualize their bods without their consent. It’s a tragic product of the patriarchy! And idiocy. But mostly patriarchy. There’s only one way to deal with teenage boys, and that’s to never trust them ever. They’re programmed to see girls as objects for their gratification and that is kind of extremely gross! Teenage boys don’t know how to kiss: Sure, the movies like to pretend they do, but outside of sparkling not-real vampire stalkers, kissing is a foreign concept to most boys. Except Jack Hunter. Don’t ask me how I know that – I might die from embarrassment. Or punch his face all over again. Regardless, they’ll try to suck your face like a lemon and it’ll be a very wet, and very scarring, experience. Let them mack on some other girl and get a bit of experience before they worm their way over to you….

When I was in the 8th grade I had to do a project that covered the decade of The Great Depression which was, of course, depressing. Hoovervilles, Dust Bowls, The Grapes of Wrath. Gah. The details of this project are mostly forgotten except for one thing—my introduction to the movies of the Golden Era of Hollywood. I saw Gone With the Wind for the first time and was enthralled. I’m fairly certain I was the only 13 year old who had her mother take her to find an A-line, ankle-length skirt and practiced walking pigeon-toed to make it sway the way Scarlett made her hoops go side-to-side. After my Technicolor romance with the Old South, I moved on to the exotic, smoke-filled Rick’s Café of Casablanca, then screwball comedies, the epic battle of the sexes, and, of course, the sentimental romances. At the time I was probably more enamored with the debonair leading men of the 1940s than those I was paying to see at the theater with my friends. My grandmother and I had a running argument over who had been more handsome: she said Gary Cooper, I said Cary Grant. I think we both won. In my new…

Every year Red Door Reads tries to lessen the sting of Tax Day by giving our readers something special. In the past we’ve asked you Who’s Been Skrewd and gave you Fifty Ways to Kill Your Larry. This year we asked our readers what they’d like to read. We held a contest last fall and received many suggestions for character traits and story settings. The winners were chosen by bestselling authors Sabrina Jeffries and Carly Phillips. Now the authors of Red Door Reads have taken the top four elements and crafted one amazing story from the winning suggestions. “The Road Home“ is truly a group effort. Each chapter was written by a different Red Door author. It is vibrant, unpredictable, and full of twists and turns. On April 15, Tax Day, each author made their chapter available on their webpage–completely FREE! Just follow the links to read the story. This is our treat to you, so just sit back and enjoy. And when you are finished, you can enter the Doing It Your Way Contest. Just answer a few questions about the story for a chance to win a Kindle Fire or a fabulous Red Door Reads Prize Pack. Matthew…

Top Five Activities for Your Inner Daredevil – It’s all about baby steps! Aubrey led a very sheltered life and is just now starting to go out and experience all the things she was always too scared to try. I have to admit, I am not a daredevil either, but these are all on my 2016 list of things to do! Zip-line. There are zip line parks all over the place and have lines for beginners as well as true thrill seekers. You don’t have to zip over the Grand Canyon to get your feet wet here! Indoor sky diving. This one looks like so much fun! Indoor Skydiving can give you the experience of flying without the fear of jumping from a plane or falling out of the sky. By stepping into a vertical wind tunnel, you can break the bonds of gravity and body fly. And you’re only maybe eight feet off the ground! Join the circus! No, not literally, but sign up for aerial trapeze or yoga classes! Who hasn’t watched a trapeze artist and thought…wow! Now you can learn how to do it (with the added benefit of safety harnesses!) and in no time you’ll be…

In my new novel HOME ON APPLE BLOSSOM ROAD my character Justine Wright has decided to play matchmaker. This is not an easy thing to do considering the fact that the matchmaking has to do with a treasure hunt … a treasure hunt she’s put in her will. Justine, the patriarch of the Wright family, makes her presence known even after she’s gone. It’s a sweet presence (if I do say so myself), and I enjoyed unfolding her life in a series of letters. I do believe that a life well lived ripples out, not only when that person is here with us, but, if she’s spoken into the lives of others, after she’s gone as well. As I wrote this book I couldn’t help wondering if there isn’t a lot of Justine in me. Not that I’m such a noble creature, but, like Justine, I love my family and friends and want them to all live happy, fulfilled lives, and I’m not above a little interfering to make sure that happens. I’ve been known to encourage (not manipulate – honest!) friendships between teenagers, to march out onto the Little League ball field and try to get my son to…

As an author and a reader I love the fierce flavor of non-traditional characters and non-traditional settings. What really makes my day is finding a book with both! Who wouldn’t want to be an archeologist like Indiana Jones or a super spy like James Bond? What about a showgirl? A genius math professor? Or, an ex-car thief? When I’m writing a book, I like writing non traditional characters (male or female) who are ready to take on the world starting with their careers. Even when I write a character with a job you’ve seen before like a cop (as a romantic suspense author I’ve written more than a few law enforcement characters) I like to write undercover agents or police officers with dark pasts (and I’m always taking suggestions as to jobs people want to see!). In the case of the WILD CARD, that means writing a former priest turned cop who’s still struggling with the issues of his previous career and a showgirl who… heart of gold aside… has no regrets about her chosen profession. Loud and flashy fit Gina Malloy to a T while broody Finn is perfect as the conflicted detective. Separately their characters are full of…

When I first started writing I had two big obstacles to overcome—finding the time to write and writing in the midst of chaos. It all began twenty-four years ago. I had four young children who needed to be driven to practice and school. They also needed attention and help with their homework. I had four sisters, too, and we enjoyed getting together every once in a while. I had a mother who liked to talk on the phone and a mother-in-law who threatened to move back to New Jersey if I couldn’t find the time to visit. And then there was the husband who liked to think he was more important than the characters I wrote about. Let’s not forget about the teachers who could use help in the classroom, and fundraisers and visiting relatives and friends and neighbors and graduations and bills to be paid and laundry and a dog, a fish, and a cat meowing at the door. Phew! The list goes on There’s always something, isn’t there? Every year the kids got older and stayed in a school a little longer, but it was always a struggle to find time to write. The first lesson I learned,…